One Direction Shrugs Off Justin Bieber Release Date Showdown

Next month, One Direction and Justin Bieber will both release their feverishly anticipated new albums on the same day—which means that one of them will be No. 1 on the albums chart, and one of them will not. In a new interview with Coup De Main, however, 1D's Niall Horan and Harry Styles downplay the sales showdown between Made In The A.M. and Purpose, chalking up the head-to-head battle as a coincidence.

"We just happen to be releasing our albums on the same day," says Horan. "It's happened to us before. Our first couple of albums were released on the same day as Rihanna. I think the press have just made a bit of a deal out of it because it's us and Justin Bieber. It's fine. You know you're gonna be up against someone in the charts—it just happens that we have fallen on the same day."

Styles added, "It's not a win/lose thing. It's, we hope that our fans like it, and if it does well that would be amazing, but that's not ultimately what it's about."

The two One Direction members also discussed the departure of Zayn Malik and what that meant for the Made in the A.M. recording process. Watch the full interview above, and click here to listen to 1D's new single, "Perfect."